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13 Definitely A Seriouser Number For Cardinals

Now that was the way to have fun on a Friday night — for the St. Louis Cardinals, at least. Scoring 13 runs always is.

For Yovani Gallardo, the rest of the Brewers and the one run they scored? Not so much.

The Cardinals scored eight off Gallardo as he worked into the third inning, although he left without getting an out. His stats say that he is actually good against teams not wearing uniforms with birds on bats.

Against the Cards, though — totally different story. This was his second time facing them this year. On the Brewers opening day three weeks ago, he gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The Brewers actually took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Jake Westbrook gave up three straight singles to Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez with one out, before getting Corey Hart to ground into an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom of the second, David Freese and Yadier Molina (and his new high socks) each singled. Matt Carpenter then grounded into a fielder’s choice — Freeser was out at third — before Skip Schumaker hit a long fly to center that Nyjer Morgan tried to catch but didn’t. That allowed the Cardinals to take the lead.

Then came the third.

The quick summary: Jon Jay (welcome back!) singled, Matt Holliday walked, Carlos Beltran singled to score jay. One run. Freeser singled to score Holliday. Two runs. Yadi walked to load the bases, Matt Carpenter up. Lil Carp double to score Beltran and Freeser. Three and four runs — and remember, still no outs. Gallardo exits (why?) and Mike McClendon enters to promptly give up a single to Skip that scores Yadi. Five runs. Westbrook sacrifices Skip to second base — finally an out, yet one the Cardinals made on purpose. Rafael Furcal walked. Jay singled for the second time in the inning and Lil Carp and Skip score. Six and seven runs. Holliday singles to score Furcal. Eight runs. Finally, Beltran hit a line out to the shortstop that doubled off Jay. Ah, well. A 10-1 lead is obviously pretty good.

Jay wasn’t done driving in runs, though. He drove in Skip in the fifth, while Holliday drove in Furcal a batter later. That made it 12-1. Lucky number 13 came in the eighth when Yadi and His Socks drove in Erik Komatsu. Yes, substitutions were plenty in this game. And, unlike the just completed road trip, so were hits — and hits with runners in scoring position — plus runs.

Oh, and ground outs were plenty for Westbrook, who gave up seven hits but had the Cards defense turn two double plays behind him. He also struck out five in his seven innings pitched. He’s now 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA.

All in all, an enjoyable game. The fact it was against the Brewers? Even sweeter.